Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. Deuteronomy 7:9

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Down-Home Schoolin'

We (not us) southerners have issues with pronouns, in case y'all haven't noticed. Most of us (not we) might have begun that sentence with "Us", but that would have been incorrect. Now I don't claim to be no expert, but I do know a thing or two about grammar. See that double negative? That is perfectly acceptable in southern speech, because it's (not its) a known fact that we (not us) southerners like to emphasize a point, even if it is grammatically incorrect.

Seems to me (not I) that by the time we (not us) get to grammar school, our speech patterns have already taken root. We say things like "me and bubba went fishing" and before we can finish telling y'all how big the fish was, the teacher rudely interrupts and says "bubba and I". What the heck - she wasn't even there! So we go again, and she interrupts again, this time telling us that we should always say "bubba and I" and not never "me and bubba". However, she neglects to tell us that sometimes it is correct to say "me and bubba" or, better yet, "bubba and me". That's probably because she's a southerner herself and takes great pride in having graduated from an institute of higher learning, which must be reflected in her refined speech and does not recognize the use of "bubba and me" as correct even when it is. [end rant]

That's my best guess anyway as to why there is so much confusion over the correct use of pronouns. So I'm going to try to set the record straight (or skrate) once and for all. I will attempt to simplify it without the use of words like "subjective" and "objective" because, frankly, it's not about diagramming sentences. It's about "you" and "me" -which is, by the way, grammatically correct.

I = you, he, she, it, we, they (anything on this line can be substituted for or used with any other and still make sense)

me = you, him, her, it, us, them (same here)

When trying to decide whether to say "bubba and I" or "bubba and me", substitute "we" or "us".

We (bubba and I) went fishing. Mama whupped us (bubba and me) for skipping school. She told us (me and bubba) don't never do that again!

That's all there is to it, folks. Any questions (or kwerstions)?

OK then, moving right along.

Apostrophe's also seem to crop up all over the place where they aren't needed. (Hint: The first one is not needed, but the second one is.) Again, I'll make it simple.

To make it plural, add s; to show possession, add 's. To make a contraction, use ' to replace the dropped letter or letters (not letter's).

F'rinstance, y'all is a contraction of you all, therefore the ' should be placed between y and a.

14 comments:

You crack me up!!! Most of the dynasty is from the south and I love to hear my Grandma say shrimp- can't spell out how it sounds but it's cute...trust me. My sister is a teacher so I am constantly correted. Hey, I figure as long as you can understand me then we're all good! :)

Thank you, sweet Lord, for Brenda's post. Bless her as she testifies to your glory through her gentle correction regarding subjective and objective pronouns. Please be with our brothers and sisters who believe that "Bubba and I" is always correct, even when it's objective, because it makes people feel smart to say "Papaw brought all them catfish to Bubba and I," nevermind the fact that they would never, ever say, "Papaw brought all them catfish to I." And help me, Lord, from throwing large objects at the television when participants in reality television programs try to appear intelligent and completely botch their pronoun usage ("What happened on the island is between she and I"). AMEN and AMEN.

While we're on the subject, may I add that y'all is a contraction of you all, which means it is plural, therefore, anytime it is used to indicate a single person, IT IS WRONG!! I wouldn't say, Brenda, y'all sure did write a particularly witty post tonight, now would I? Okay, now I'll go back to mindin' my own bidness. Thanks for lettin' me rant,'kay? ;-)

Brenda,Many, many thanks for this post! Both BooMama and I have been known to fling imaginary objects at the television in response to the (repeated) incorrect use of "(insert name) and I".Now, when are you going to address the difference between "gone and went"? :)

Seriously, Bev, Barb, and our other bloggy friends - y'all have nothing to worry about. I'm only peevish about it in the same instances that BooMama mentioned in her post - did you see it? I got top billing!

You know, people whose job it is to address the public should have a command of the English language. That's all I'm saying.

It's Not About Me!

Okay, well some of it is... but mostly, it's about God. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. So amazing is His grace that He would save a wretch like me!